Chancellor Gordon Brown has £3bn to £4bn to give away over the next two years, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies. He has already splashed out £1.7bn on his package for motorists: the rest could be up for grabs in Wednesday's Budget. We asked a range of bodies representing consumer interests what they would like to see in Mr Brown's red box.

Long-term care

The Chancellor has dodged the issue of who will pay nursing and residential care in old age ever since the last election. Most pensioner groups want an end to all charges - a simple solution that would stop people having to sell their homes to pay for care services. But the cost is believed to be £1.1bn, rising to £2.4bn in 2021.

Retirement

Along with most pensioner groups, the TUC is looking for a restoration of the link between the basic state pension and the earnings or prices index, whichever is higher. It wants to replace the minimum income guarantee, which tops up the state pension with income support payments, with an age-related supplement of £22 a week for a single person and £29 per couple. Age Concern says it wants the Chancellor to use his pot to move the state pension closer to its stated target of £90 a week.

The Chartered Institute of Taxation is taking a slightly different stance: it wants pensions to be given the best tax breaks, making it more attractive for long-term saving than Isas or unit or investment trusts. "Isas are about saving money to spend, whereas pensions are about people not having to rely on the state in their old age," says the institute's deputy president, John Whiting.

The National Association of Pension Funds is calling for greater flexibility over the retirement age: it wants people to be able to draw just one part of their pension, allowing them to downshift to a less stressful job and so continue working beyond 65. The other part of their pension would be taken later on. "There needs to be a rethink on the issue of compulsion. There is a danger that the new stakeholder pensions will not be as attractive without compulsion," he adds.

Childcare

Gingerbread, the organisation supporting lone parents, is pushing for additional paid parental leave which could be taken at any point in the child's life. This would be particularly useful at times of change or during school holidays.

It also says that benefit poverty traps must be tackled. Many people who qualify for the Working Families Tax Credit find they no longer qualify for housing benefit, which makes them no better off, says a spokeswoman.

The TUC, meanwhile, wants the new Children's Tax Credit to increase by £1.50 a week to £10.

Savings and investment

The Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds (Autif) is looking for just one thing on Wednesday: a change in the way stamp duty is charged on the buying of shares within a fund of funds (a fund which, as the name suggests, trades only in other funds rather than in stocks themselves - the ultimate collective, and therefore risk-averse, investment). Currently the duty is effectively charged three times, and Autif would like to see it levied just once.

Tax

"We want the whole taxation regime to be simplified. While it may look like there are only three tax bands, because of the multitude of exceptions and clauses and bits and pieces, it's actually more complicated than that: just look at the number of people who can't fill out their self-assessment forms," says the Chartered Institute of Taxation's Mr Whiting, echoing the call of many groups that despair of Mr Brown's complicated tax reforms.

Age Concern, meanwhile, would like more pensioners to join the non-taxpaying community (two-thirds of retired people pay tax). It says the best way to do this is to increase the levels of age- related personal allowances.

The workplace

The Low Pay Unit is calling for an increase in the minimum wage from £3.70. "Ideally we would like to see it going up to £5," says director Bharti Patel. The unit also wants an enforcement agency covering all employment rights issues, to be set up. "Even if we get an indication that the Chancellor is looking to bring this in, we will be very pleased," she says. And it is calling for a reform of the National Insurance system so that the low-paid become eligible for the full benefits; this could be paid for by abolishing the upper earnings limit to increase contributions from high earners.

The TUC will be keeping its fingers crossed for a new tax credit designed to encourage companies to spend more on research and development and training.